Michael Moretti

Name: Michael "Mike" Moretti

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Grade: 12

School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: Music, computers, marijuana.

Appearance: Mike's most noticeable physical feature is easily his hair. He wants to grow it out longer and keep it in a ponytail; but his mother, wishing for him to cut it short, refuses to hear of it. Their compromise is a mass of tangled, curly, dark brown hair that barely touches his shoulders. His eyes are a deep brown, and framed by thick eyelashes and eyebrows the same color as his hair. His right eye is slightly lazy, and will sometimes appear a little uneven if he looks at you from a certain angle. He has a somewhat average-sized nose, but it appears large due to the fact that it does not curve. Above his upper lip is a sparse crop of hair where he has been attempting to grow a mustache, but instead it gives off the impression that he does not shave often enough. He will probably get tired of it and shave it off eventually with the urging of his mother, but the cycle will only repeat itself again in a couple months. Mike is about 5'7" tall, and weighs in at 149 pounds. He is rather fit from biking to and from various errands, so he has a decent amount of muscle mass and a high metabolism. He usually wears polos and band t-shirts, and during the colder months, he is rarely seen without his favorite navy blue hoodie. He usually wears baggy khaki pants and shorts, having never really seen the appeal of tight pants on men. Besides, his female friends assure him, he really couldn't pull it off. Mike's island outfit is a pair of khaki cargo shorts, brown sneakers, and a white t-shirt with the album art for The Beatles' Revolver.

Biography: Michael Moretti's main flaw is an almost complete lack of direction. He is never sure of what he wants, exactly, and this tends to result in regrets and missed opportunities in all areas of life. He wanted to be a doctor for as long as he could remember, so he enrolled in some of the most advanced science classes Bayview has to offer and took internships at the local university hospital. Then he decided he wanted to work with computers. Then psychology. And of course, he was still writing and playing music on the side. He finally seems to have settled on computer science for his main field of study, but that hasn't stopped him from taking advanced classes in anything that interests him, regardless of the stress they cause him and his use for them in the future. This paid off for him eventually- Michael plans to enter Carnegie Mellon University in the fall of 2008 with enough scholarships to cover all relevant expenses.

Mike has had a decent high school experience so far. On his spare time he can be found recording his music, and while some consider it crap, it is far better crap than what he was writing in middle school. He is known by a few different circles, but by the end of freshman year he had found a niche in a circle of students from his advanced classes (turns out, he wasn't the only one taking as many advanced credits as possible). He doesn't consider himself to be popular or unpopular; in fact, he doesn't really consider popularity at all as long as he can find people he has mutual care for. Along with his high school years came the storm of confusion and doubt that all teenagers must face, and he was hit especially hard with it. It was in the midst of this hormonal hurricane that he smoked his first joint. Whatever made him do it in the first place, the intrigue quickly rendered Miss Mary Jane irresistible for him. After a few months he was smoking at least once a week. Lacking the ability to buy pipes or other paraphernalia at stores (for obvious reasons), he fashions his own pipes in the basement of his house using plastic water bottles and his father's hot glue gun. The weed also helped him find new influences for his music- even his stepsister, Leah, who was more opposed than anyone to her brother's new habit, had to admit that his writing became considerably better when he started smoking weed.

Mike is also no stranger to the arrogance that plagues so many other young men his age. In conversation, he will constantly jump in with jokes and references that he finds absolutely hilarious, regardless of whether anyone else laughs with him. In arguments and debates he always has to be right, and will sometimes make a fool of himself just to prove a point. Sometimes his persistence will actually help him, but for the most part it just gets on people's nerves. His arrogant personality has hindered his ability to make friends somewhat, but he makes no real effort to change it- it "keeps out the riffraff", as he tells those who are close to him. And in a lot of ways, he's right- those who make the effort to know him almost always find him a friend worth keeping. Mike is very trustworthy, and if you go to him with a problem you can be rest assured you'll get decent advice and that any secrets will be safe with him. Dating is a totally different story. While Michael has had several girlfriends, his indecisiveness prevents the development of any serious relationships. On the other hand, the same indecisiveness also makes him prone to dating and breaking up with the same girl many times until both he and the girl in question have gotten over it all completely- or until the people around them grow thoroughly tired of it. Whichever comes first, really.

Like many children that are born in this day and age, Michael was, initially, an accident. After his biological father suggested they have an abortion, Michael's mother, Carol Moretti, decided to raise him on her own. Carol had a well-paying job at a large publishing company and a couple decades worth of savings on hand, so raising a child was never a real financial burden for her- instead, Michael made up for it with the mental stress that comes with the life of a single mother. They lived together comfortably in a suburb of Minneapolis for these years. Michael went through elementary and middle school with mostly good grades, having decided from a young age that he wanted to be a doctor. Times were peaceful for the most part, and while the two weren't necessarily happy, life could definitely have been a lot worse.

It was during his elementary school that Mike discovered his passion for music. Over the years, Michael has played the clarinet, saxophone, cello, piano, guitar, and drums- and he even managed at least some proficiency in all of them. During his middle school years, he tightened his focus to mainly piano and guitar, and they have been his specialty ever since. He began writing and recording songs in his basement, sometimes with help from the other neighborhood kids. At this time, his songs were, for lack of a better word, terrible, but he was still only eleven years old. He would improve, and later in life these early recordings would be a source of amusement for Mike and his friends.

Finally, in the summer before Mike entered high school, Carol decided that it was time for a change in scenery. She never had liked living in the suburbs, and she had just been offered a job in her birthplace, St. Paul. As she went through the paperwork that came with moving to a new house and enrolling her son in a new school, Mike spent his last months in his old town playing guitar and spending time with his childhood friends. In the August of 2004, Carol and Michael Moretti arrived at their new home in St. Paul, Minnesota. Less than a month after moving in, the pair met Tanner and Leah Bishop, a single father and daughter who lived just across the street. Carol and Tanner soon became dating, and despite initial apprehension, even their respective children had to admit it was a match made in heaven. Though their relationship was reluctant and awkward at first, Michael and Leah were close friends by the time they became siblings and housemates two years later.

Advantages: Mike is rather fit, and can handle a good deal of physical stress before tiring out. He is also very good at thinking of unique solutions to problems, and quickly; ideal for a situation where you need to be on your toes. Thanks to his previous medical studies, he knows a lot about the human body and how it works. This will be quite useful when it comes to injuries.

Disadvantages: Many people find Mike irritating due to his "wit" and arrogance, making it hard for him to make friends. Furthermore, it is less likely that people will hesitate to kill him if he already pissed them off before the game started. However, those who are close to him know that he is someone that they can trust, so he may be held back by friends who are less capable physically than he is. Mike also has a tendency to let his emotions get in the way of decisions, and when combined with his already confused, fickle personality the results could be disastrous when it comes to the game.

Designated Number: Male student no. 73

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Designated Weapon: Morning Star

Conclusion: Another "maybe he will, maybe he won't". My bet is that he tries to use that thing and accidentally brains himself.

'The above biography is as written by Ella. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Ella, karsk

Kills: None

Killed By: N/A (Escaped)

Collected Weapons: Morning Star (Assigned Weapon)

Allies: Violet Druce

Enemies: None

Mid-game Evaluation: Michael started out on the Logging Road, where he met with a number of other students, including Imraan Al-Hariq, Vivien Morin, Madeleine Smith, Edward Belmont, and Violet Druce. Though the group made an attempt to work together, differences of opinion and the sudden appearance of a rampaging Jonathan Jarocki drove them apart, and Michael ended up going with Violet. After a short bonding experience in the Swamp, the two of them encountered Ilario Fiametta in the Ranger Station, attempting to administer CPR to the recently-deceased Jackson Ockley. Suspecting Ilario of murdering Jackson, the two of them beat a hasty retreat.

A couple of days later, Michael and Violet reunited with Madeleine in the forest, along with Jessie Anderson, Courtney Bradley, Alan Rickhall, and Jimmy Robertson. While Violet trusted Madeleine, she and Michael were not so certain of the other students, and very shortly afterwards, the announcement of Liz Polanski's actions sounded over the loudspeakers, sending the group every which way. Michael and Violet, in particular, wished to protect Liz from the students who would be coming after her, but they would find themselves instead on the Beach, face-to-face with Sarah Atwell and Alice Boucher. Despite their expectations that Sarah would kill them, Michael and Violet were instead left alone, Sarah leaving them tapes that, she claimed, would prove her innocence.

Tired, sore, and demoralized, the two rested in one of the houses in the Residential District. Disturbed and shaken by a combination of the tapes and their time on the island, the two shared a restless night. The next day, the rescue came. While Michael wished to go with the STAR rescue squad, Violet decided to stay behind. Despite his wish to stay with her, Michael boarded the rescue boat and left the island, having survived the ordeal.

Post-Game Evaluation:

Memorable Quotes:

Other/Trivia

 * Mike was adopted by karsk after his original handler left v4
 * Mike is one of two rescued characters, along with Jacqueline Myrie, to not appear in any post-game threads.

Threads
Below is a list of threads that contain Michael, in chronological order.

V4:
 * Wants and Needs
 * Breathe In, Breathe Out
 * Act I: General Anaesthetic
 * Cool Ranch
 * Tactic Static
 * Throw It On a Fire
 * A Slight Change of Plans

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Michael. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''


 * Michael and Violet's love story made for a wonderful read. I'm glad that he made it, because he was an earnest and kind fellow. -- Blastinus
 * Mike was good. Of Ella's two original kids, I think he was the one I preferred (though Jackie was cool too). What stood out about Mike was that he was a nice, normal guy who shone in situations that were a little bit odd in the context of a death game. Mike never got into a really tough situation; probably the closest he came was Jonathan Jarocki's attack at the logging road. Mike found a chance to interact with people in a more normal way, making a close friend in Violet Druce. Their time together was the highlight of each one's story, in my opinion.

What makes this all more notable is that Mike didn't have any pregame whatsoever. That often is a serious problem when kids need to be depicted in more normal situations, but Mike thrived in them. This is part of why it's really too bad we didn't see anything of him in post-game. Mike was more of a blank slate in the normal world than almost all of V4's survivors, and I'd have loved to see that change, especially since he lost everyone he interacted with on the island. I'm not really sure why his story ended where it did, but I sure wish it'd gone on a bit further. - MurderWeasel